FiFTY's Manual 4200 Build

FIFTY

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3,100
GranSport exhaust backbox upgrade

In January 2018 I was sent an link by a fellow former which was for an eBay listing selling a pair of used GS valved backboxes they were thinking about buying them and gutting the internals for their own GS however they ended going down the larini route.

The boxes looked a little tired guessing that is why they did not sell, I knew they are made from stainless so with a bit of determination they would clean up nicely. I used a wire wheel on a cordless drill to brush polish the corrosion off and road grime (e.g. tar) then went over it with a wool pad on the drill with autosol


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Upon installation the valves are open and I found the car to be extremely loud with quite obnoxious drone around 2000rpm... Which is fine as long as if it is tame enough to live with when the valves are closed

Video clip from the halfway point of installing the boxes. It is not difficult but very fiddly. A ratchet spanner will save a lot of time installing the boxes onto the old mounts


I installed a vacuum line from the reservoir in the wheel arch to the back boxes following the brake lines. One thing to note is that the kit does not allow for anywhere near enough vacuum pipe so I had to order 4 meters more off Amazon

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With the vacuum lines hooked up to the boxes the valves close and I take it out for a road test - the drone has gone thankfully - if it was not I was about to put the old boxes back on.

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I then installed a remote valve control kit which uses an EGR valve that is installed along the vacuum line to control the boxes. I tucked the egr behind a heatsheild with it wrapped and sealed in a bag so it is not exposed

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I can now switch between loud exhaust and even louder exhaust at the press of a button plus the GS tips look and sound great


One thing I need do address is that the control box is not on a switched circuit. There are no switched circuits in the fusebox located in the boot. It is a very slow drain but I generally eithrr disconnect the box or keep the car on a battery tender. The plan is to take the seats and carpet out so I can run a switched power feed from the fuse box in the passenger footwell (which is the same in the GS)
 
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FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Hi Fernando
The firm is Norfork Brake and Clutch, the guy who runs it is called John Cooper and his number is 07939457540.
Not used him myself but he has relined a 4200 clutch before and might be worth a call.

Thanks mate. I'll pass this to Aldous and Harvey. Full disclosure I have already ordered a new clutch as this is all going at real time and I do not want my car jamming up their workshop over me being indecisive trying to save a few hundred quid... but hopefully it can help the next manual owner.
 

Nibby

Member
Messages
2,027
Thanks mate. I'll pass this to Aldous and Harvey. Full disclosure I have already ordered a new clutch as this is all going at real time and I do not want my car jamming up their workshop over me being indecisive trying to save a few hundred quid... but hopefully it can help the next manual owner.
Be spot on when you get it back Fernando.
Went for a drive in mine today and it's bliss without that bearing noise.
 

FIFTY

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3,100
Be spot on when you get it back Fernando.
Went for a drive in mine today and it's bliss without that bearing noise.

No bearing noise, stretching rusted hand brake cables, or clonking rear anti roll bar... In fact an entirely new anti roll bar from Formula Dynamics.... I will fit the front bar myself as it's easy. Result should be a lot more fun and composure in the twisties.

Aldous has already done the annual service and adjusted the shifter mechanism... It will feel like a brand new car!
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Cooling system - Radiator, Thermostat and temp sensor DIY

On a summer afternoon in July I am heading to the Ace Cafe Italian night and it is the summer heat wave of 2018 - stuck in a jam on hot slip road on the M4 I notice that my temperature has just crept past 90C and is suggesting the car is sitting at 91-92C - it does not continue to climb but I start thinking that the car is running a little hot. I did a thread on it at the time: https://www.sportsmaserati.com/index.php?threads/maserati-4200-water-radiator.26723/

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As the car was going to be used for a 2 week "Grand Tour" of Italy for my honeymoon in September I decide to change the radiator, thermostat and temp sensor for some added peace of mind when on the road at the tail end of Italian summer (we were heading to the South of Italy so it was going to be hot as that slip road). I decided to go down the front bumper off route so that it makes the job a lot easier while working on my back on the drive, this was a good decision as I found that the radiator shroud was hanging off from when someone previously did the rads change from underneath and did not bother to reattach it - I also found that the front bumper bracket had corroded to dust and that had slightly spread onto the front crash structure but only on the surface thankfully so it was totally treatable

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Along with fabricating a new front bumper bracket I had to reattach the airbox where had completely sheared from its fixings and was only held in place by the clips on the intake manifold - apparently another common problem with these cars - having the bumper off made this quite easy. I ordered new radiator and airbox mounts from Meridian, while the thermostat and temp sensor were from EuroSpares and I got the radiator from Autodoc as I found the OE equivalent at a fraction of the cost of the Maserati boxed/branded part (see my post on the alternative parts thread). https://www.sportsmaserati.com/inde...everyone-needs-to-know.51/page-41#post-667199

Much to my horror the old radiator I pulled out appeared to be a second hand one! It had the part number written down the side of it in white pen which is typical of what salvage yards/breakers do... shows that a previous owner was running things on a budget :/

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I did not realise until having replaced the parts that the old thermostat was stuck open, the temp gauge on these cars does move a bit when in free air (cooler) compared to traffic (hotter) but I recall that in free air it was dropping to 60C and now it only goes down to 75C

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Temp sensor is accessible through the drivers side front wheel arch, was a little difficult to spot at first but it is in there kind of above the water pump. I ordered a separate washer but the part came with a crush washer built in so I left the extra one I bought

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Also I had to get new headlight gaskets as my old ones were missing, reinstalling the headlights was a delight... not. Probably one of the more fiddly parts of the job

The project took about 14 hours labour but over 3.5 weeks to complete as I was working over weekends between being quite busy; I completed it 10 days before my wedding on 1st September where it would be my wedding car then off to Italy with it on the 3rd! No pressure eh!! To be honest I found the job quite enjoyable, it certainly was not difficult and I only struggled on a small number of seized/rusted fixings.

The temperature sitting at slightly over 90C persisted, I think it is now resolved by installing some bigger cats as I believe the 100 cell cats that were welded in 2016 were a little restrictive causing heat to back up to the engine
 
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FIFTY

Member
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3,100
Headlight adjustment

Another common problem on these cars is the headlight adjuster on the dipped beam halogen lights (not self adjusting xenons) can somehow decide to start pointing at the floor. I am not sure if my nearside headlight did this suddenly which suggests a breakage inside the fitting or if some one accidentally wound the adjusted the wrong way until it was pointing at the floor - this was yet another problem the car had when I bought it! (maybe I do not have a very keen eye for used cars lol). I lived with this for quite some time, the car was difficult to drive at night as the nearside headlight does most of the work and if it is pointed at the floor in front of the nose of the car the efficiency will be down at least 75%.

I finally fixed it when I had the headlights both out as the adjuster seemed to be doing nothing while in situ. I wound the adjuster with a bit of light pressure on it until I heard the thread inside reattach to the mechanism - seems as though someone did "unwind" it to the point of the mechanism coming apart, guess I was lucky it wound back in. I counted the threads on the off side headlight adjuster and matched up the nearside one to the same number of threads - the headlights are now perfect.

While the lights were out I went ahead and changed them to the philips 130% output halogen lamps for the dipped, main beam and fog lights (they are all the same fitment size)

Photo shows beam pattern pretty much exclusively on the 3ft of ground in front of the car
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You can see on my garage door the left hand headlight pointing all the way down
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This is what the adjuster looks like, to get to it it is possible through the access hatch but I would take the wheel arch liner off then it is possible to get several turns on it easily, I found that through the hatch I could only turn my hand one way (pitching the adjuster downwards) which is probably what caused the problem in the first place

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Not an uncommon problem for the 4200 apparently it is the same on the cars cousin the Ferrari 360 which actually needs more work to rebuild the adjuster than on the 4200 source: https://aldousvoice.com/2016/02/21/ferrari-360-headlight-level-adjustment/
 

MaserCoupe

Member
Messages
564
Headlight adjustment

Another common problem on these cars is the headlight adjuster on the dipped beam halogen lights (not self adjusting xenons) can somehow decide to start pointing at the floor. I am not sure if my nearside headlight did this suddenly which suggests a breakage inside the fitting or if some one accidentally wound the adjusted the wrong way until it was pointing at the floor - this was yet another problem the car had when I bought it! (maybe I do not have a very keen eye for used cars lol). I lived with this for quite some time, the car was difficult to drive at night as the nearside headlight does most of the work and if it is pointed at the floor in front of the nose of the car the efficiency will be down at least 75%.

I finally fixed it when I had the headlights both out as the adjuster seemed to be doing nothing while in situ. I wound the adjuster with a bit of light pressure on it until I heard the thread inside reattach to the mechanism - seems as though someone did "unwind" it to the point of the mechanism coming apart, guess I was lucky it wound back in. I counted the threads on the off side headlight adjuster and matched up the nearside one to the same number of threads - the headlights are now perfect.

While the lights were out I went ahead and changed them to the philips 130% output halogen lamps for the dipped, main beam and fog lights (they are all the same fitment size)

Photo shows beam pattern pretty much exclusively on the 3ft of ground in front of the car
View attachment 54729

You can see on my garage door the left hand headlight pointing all the way down
View attachment 54730

This is what the adjuster looks like, to get to it it is possible through the access hatch but I would take the wheel arch liner off then it is possible to get several turns on it easily, I found that through the hatch I could only turn my hand one way (pitching the adjuster downwards) which is probably what caused the problem in the first place

View attachment 54732

Not an uncommon problem for the 4200 apparently it is the same on the cars cousin the Ferrari 360 which actually needs more work to rebuild the adjuster than on the 4200 source: https://aldousvoice.com/2016/02/21/ferrari-360-headlight-level-adjustment/

Fifty, what you are detailing here is just fantastic. What you are doing is nothing short of brilliant. Every time I see your updates, I'm genuinely amazed to see the latest transformation and your write-ups are truly a great read. So thank you for sharing and a thank you also to the other contributors that you've added with your links. Really outstanding stuff, I'm looking forward to your next instalment!! Maybe a video of you blasting southbound through a certain tunnel near Guildford with your new exhausts? ;) Great community this SM forum!
 
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FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Fifty, what you are detailing here is just fantastic. What you are doing is nothing short of brilliant. Every time I see your updates, I'm genuinely amazed to see the latest transformation and your write-ups are truly a great read. So thank you for sharing and a thank you also to the other contributors that you've added with your links. Really outstanding stuff, I'm looking forward to your next instalment!! Maybe a video of you blasting southbound through a certain tunnel near Guildford with your new exhausts? ;) Great community this SM forum!

Thanks mate I'm glad you are all enjoying my rambling

I must say when I carry out the work at each stage the difference to the car has always been quite noticable. This is something that I enjoy and it really motivates me... also my wife is also a petrolhead which helps me get away with buying mods and paying maintenance bills. I get quite attached to my cars so I am no where near tempted to chop it out for something else, helps when the car is not a basket case!

Maybe I have one better than blasting through hindhead... Was saving this for a later post but I have been very lazy in editing all of the footage together - so far I have only done part 1 of my go pro dash cam recordings from the honeymoon road trip to the south of Italy - this is Freiburg to Bellano on lake como:


Italian tunnels from 5.30s...
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Good work, enjoy content like this.

Cheers mate... Bit more to come over the next few weeks then it will slow down as show season starts and its time to enjoy driving the car... Importantly bed in the clutch and flywheel before le mans. So I'll be spending money on petrol rather than parts, labour or tools lol.
 

MaserCoupe

Member
Messages
564
Thanks mate I'm glad you are all enjoying my rambling

I must say when I carry out the work at each stage the difference to the car has always been quite noticable. This is something that I enjoy and it really motivates me... also my wife is also a petrolhead which helps me get away with buying mods and paying maintenance bills. I get quite attached to my cars so I am no where near tempted to chop it out for something else, helps when the car is not a basket case!

Maybe I have one better than blasting through hindhead... Was saving this for a later post but I have been very lazy in editing all of the footage together - so far I have only done part 1 of my go pro dash cam recordings from the honeymoon road trip to the south of Italy - this is Freiburg to Bellano on lake como:


Italian tunnels from 5.30s...
That’s outrageously good!! What an exhaust note that engine makes! :) Keep up the great work.
 

Corridore

Junior Member
Messages
32
Fernando... This has been a great read. I too, just like you came to a manual 4200 via the Davide Cironi video, and I haven't regretted it for one minute!
Top thread, thanks
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Fernando... This has been a great read. I too, just like you came to a manual 4200 via the Davide Cironi video, and I haven't regretted it for one minute!
Top thread, thanks

I think quite a few of the manual owners on here watched the same David Cirone video before making their decision, he is a great journalist and while some of his points on the video are not accurate broadly his description is correct, the car has a "underdog" status while in reality the car is technologically advanced with many of the problems being tuning/set up related. Even in its standard form it is a pleasure to drive yet somewhat vague. I am really looking forward to getting my car back and the first drive.

Assume you have seen the driving only video:

 

MaserCoupe

Member
Messages
564
I think quite a few of the manual owners on here watched the same David Cirone video before making their decision, he is a great journalist and while some of his points on the video are not accurate broadly his description is correct, the car has a "underdog" status while in reality the car is technologically advanced with many of the problems being tuning/set up related. Even in its standard form it is a pleasure to drive yet somewhat vague. I am really looking forward to getting my car back and the first drive.

Assume you have seen the driving only video:

Yep spot on Fifty, couldn’t agree with you more. Love this car and the fact that it’s a three pedaller with a stick of joy. Makes it such an engaging and satisfying experience! :p:):D
 

Vampyrebat

Member
Messages
3,117
I think quite a few of the manual owners on here watched the same David Cirone video before making their decision, he is a great journalist and while some of his points on the video are not accurate broadly his description is correct, the car has a "underdog" status while in reality the car is technologically advanced with many of the problems being tuning/set up related. Even in its standard form it is a pleasure to drive yet somewhat vague. I am really looking forward to getting my car back and the first drive.

Assume you have seen the driving only video:


Great detailed description and pictures of your cars journey with you Shoghi, I didn't realize you had done so much work on her, that shall be one sorted car when you have finished!
Yes, I think all of us manual boys got a lot of their enthusiasm from DC YouTube films of the 42 test drive, he is a driving instructor for Ferrari but still prefers his manual cars! (DC Davide Cironi not David Coulthard, although he has been a Maserati owner in his past)
f1-san-marino-gp-2006-scott-speed-vitantonio-liuzzi-christian-klien-and-david-coulthard-wi[1].jpg
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Great detailed description and pictures of your cars journey with you Shoghi, I didn't realize you had done so much work on her, that shall be one sorted car when you have finished!
Yes, I think all of us manual boys got a lot of their enthusiasm from DC YouTube films of the 42 test drive, he is a driving instructor for Ferrari but still prefers his manual cars! (DC Davide Cironi not David Coulthard, although he has been a Maserati owner in his past)
View attachment 54874


That is quite a recent photo of coulthard considering the company he is in, does he still have his GS, I thought he sold it(?)
 
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hashluck

Member
Messages
1,515
Yes a lot has been done over the last three years. Problem with these cars is that once they are "cheap" they get bought kept a short period then shifted on often with little maintenance done in that time other than servicing. To be fair it is OK if you don't put a lot of miles on it during that time but the issues on the car will eventually pile up, this is a bit of a crucial time for these cars if they are to survive another 15 - 30 years then all of these bits will need changing... I guess that is why the market has bottomed out a bit until the rough cars are restored or parted out

Considering the car has had 5 owners I think it has worked out like this

Owner 1: from new purchased at Carrs of Exeter in Jan/Feb 2004 - strangely enough the car was registered to a owner in Torquay which is where I was born/raised and was living there a teenager going to school... It is very likely I saw the car a few times on the street back then. Car was looked after main dealer correct service intervals, etc. Car is sold in 2009

Owner 2: Seems to be an enthusiast, registered on Maserati club GB (found old decals in the car)... lots of service stamps from Autoshield car sold in 2012

Owner 3: No service stamps, no receipts, 6k miles/year sold it in 2014

Owner 4: Inherits a lot of problems from owner 3 addresses a couple of issues (new wheel hub for failed ABS sensor at a specialist indi) but part ex's after 9 months for a Maserati Spyder in 2015

Owner 5: Fernandoisfasterthanyou buys it Feb 2016 and starts a rolling restoration.

Bit of a gamble buying a Maserati with patchy history I know but as I mentioned before I am modifying it therefore do not want a garage queen as the money I will loose in depreciating the low mileage "well kept" car will be the same as replacing the heater matrix, clutch, etc. in my car (man maths yes but it has some accuracy). Luckily between me and owner the dealer put a few things right like the leaking main oil feed line, all of the suspension bushes and a few other things like the side repeater bulbs, I did hit the ground running and kept going with it... I think if the car went to someone like owner 3 then it would be ready to be parted out by now.


That is quite a recent photo of coulthard considering the company he is in, does he still have his GS, I thought he sold it(?)


This is absolutely spot on. Except.....

"To be fair it is OK if you don't put a lot of miles on it during that time..."

It is never OK. Because as you rightly point out...

"but the issues on the car will eventually pile up,"

and then become uneconomical to repair unless an enthusiast such as yourself buys it. Sadly the ownership history of your car is pretty much par for the course. Owners 3 and 4 generally have a lot to answer for :)
 

Nibby

Member
Messages
2,027
Loving this.
My side light under the headlight has come loose. How are they fixed to the bumper?
Thanks for any help.
Mark
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
This is absolutely spot on. Except.....

"To be fair it is OK if you don't put a lot of miles on it during that time..."

It is never OK. Because as you rightly point out...

"but the issues on the car will eventually pile up,"

and then become uneconomical to repair unless an enthusiast such as yourself buys it. Sadly the ownership history of your car is pretty much par for the course. Owners 3 and 4 generally have a lot to answer for :)

Ha... I am indeed contradicting myself there. I think a lot of people struggle to differentiate between servicing/maintenance and the importance of the upkeep of both which is kind of the point I was trying to make... The reality is when a maintenance issue rears its head owners like 3 and 4 try to hide it and sell up rather than face the invoice and continue enjoying the car. Prime example is the heater matrix; AV reckons it was leaking for years... Just to dry It out It spent 10 days in his workshop stuffed full of silica gell under a cover.

The next issue beyond previous owners not caring is quality of labour... but let's not open that can of worms this is supposed to be a positive thread! Lmao XD
 
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